Use of skin-lightening products is still prevalent among people of color, new study finds. Here's why.

The use of topical skin-lightening — also referred to as skin-bleaching — products has been a point of contention for years because of links to health problems, including skin damage, and its association with skin-tone-based discrimination, known as colorism.

And now, a new study from the International Journal of Women's Dermatology has found these products, which are a multibillion-dollar industry, to be prevalent among those with skin of color.

So why exactly are some skin-lightening ingredients harmful and what does using these products say about colorism in the U.S.?

Below, experts unpack the data and explore the nuances of this new study.

What the study says

The study surveyed a total of 455 people, the majority of whom were Black women — a group disproportionately affected by colorism and the use of skin-lightening products.

In the study, more than 21% said they used some form of skin-lightening agent; of that group, more than 73% reported using them to treat skin conditions, such as melasma and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. However, nearly 27% admitted to using skin-lightening products to achieve lighter skin overall, which Dr. Roopal V. Kundu, a professor of dermatology at Northwestern University and lead author of the study, tells Yahoo Life is "a relatively large number."

Even more startling, Kundu adds, is the fact that more than 45% of respondents admitted to not knowing what skin-lightening ingredients were in the products they were using — a knowledge gap that can have lasting health consequences.

"There have been some studies that have found ingredients like mercury, which has this bleaching effect and that is literally toxic. That's the type of concern we have when we just don't know what might be in the products that individuals are using," says Kundo. But these harmful effects are more than skin deep.

What are the key findings?

The study found that those who use skin-lightening products were more likely to think highly of lighter skin tones than darker ones — a bias that has been proven to have negative real-world consequences. This isn't surprising, given that research shows colorism "affords special advantages to lighter-skinned individuals" because of their closer resemblance Europeans "and, therefore, to Eurocentric standards of beauty, morality, intellect, and status."

Experts say skin lightening is still a prevalent issue around the world. "It's incredibly common if you look at the global numbers," says dermatologist Dr. Rachel Nazarian. "In a lot of African countries and Southeast Asia, skin lightening has been part of their culture for over 100 years." One study conducted in 2021 found that 75% of women in Nigeria were said to use some form of skin-lightening agent.

What do experts think?

This isn't the first study to identify a link between the use of skin lighteners and colorism. Other studies have found similar results, which Kundu says is an "unsurprising" correlation. "It is something that's been [shown] before," she says.

While the study's findings were not groundbreaking, they do offer useful metrics to assess colorism's influence on behaviors — specifically as it relates to skin health.

"I think it just gave us a little bit more concrete knowledge of something that [dermatologists have] talked about," Kundu says. "It is important to understand this potential influence of colorism as a physician or caretaker."

Nazarian says that while she is "concerned about the numbers," she hopes this research encourages open conversations between dermatologists and patients regarding the role colorism plays in requests for skin lighteners. "It allows us to have a little bit of touch point on where we are as a culture, how we define beauty and allows us to determine how we can improve," she says.

But as Kundu points out, not everyone looking for general skin lightening is consulting with a doctor prior, especially not an amount equivalent to the numbers seen in their study.

"I'm not seeing a quarter of patients who want to use skin-lightening ingredients for general lightening. So that means that most of those individuals are doing it on their own," says Kundu.

Why this matters

Unregulated use of skin-lightening products, particularly ones with harmful ingredients like mercury, can lead to a number of health conditions, including thinning of the skin and loss of skin elasticity, say experts.

"This can be damaging for the overall health of the skin," explains Nazarian.

The use of skin lighteners to achieve a fairer complexion is also considered largely problematic no matter the numbers, and even though the research suggests the U.S. "is doing OK compared to the rest of the world," says Nazarian, there is still room for improvement.

"That to me is like a challenge," she says. Nazarian explains that while the amount of people using skin-lightening products in the U.S. "is not fabulous," she says that "it could be worse," adding: "Let's see if we can get that number down over the next five years."

It's also worth noting that, even though there is a concerning amount of people using skin lighteners to change their overall complexion, "the vast majority of individuals who are using skin lightening are using it for a skin condition," points out Kundu. "And there are safe and effective ways to use skin lightening" in those cases.

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